Drug refilling apparatus and method of controlling the same

ABSTRACT

There is provided a drug refilling apparatus. The apparatus includes a main body on which a drug cartridge is mounted, a cartridge mounting unit installed on a top surface of the main body to allow the drug cartridge mounted thereon, an unfastening unit unfastening a fastened state of a cover included in the drug cartridge, and a cartridge locking unit locking or unlocking the drug cartridge while the drug cartridge is being mounted on the cartridge mounting unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Nos.10-2012-0040541 filed on Apr. 18, 2012 and 10-2013-0028460 filed on Mar.18, 2013, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a drug refilling apparatus and a methodof controlling the same, and more particularly, to a drug refillingapparatus capable of allowing only an administrator authenticated tojustifiably access to put and refill various shapes and sizes of drugsinto drug cartridges and a method of controlling the drug refillingapparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

Drugs generally used are manufactured to treat corresponding illnesses,kinds thereof are various, and drugs are produced in various forms suchas tablets, powders, and parenteral injections.

To automatically keep and supply various shapes and kinds of drugs asdescribed above, drug supplying apparatuses have been developed.

Such drug supplying apparatuses keep drugs by using drug cartridges, anddrugs kept therein are discharged according to prescribing informationand supplied to an administrator.

However, typically, while putting or supplementing drugs into drugcartridges, wrong drugs are kept and drugs are wrongly administrated,thereby generating the misuse of the drugs.

Particularly, in the case of narcotics, opioids, psychotropic drugs,when being given to other patients who are not corresponding patients,patients taking the drugs may be greatly damaged. Accordingly, it isnecessary to set permissions for how users access respective drugs toallow only an administrator having a justifiable right to keep andadministrate corresponding drugs.

Accordingly, to set permissions for administrators to access individualdrugs and to put or refill drugs into drug cartridges, it is needed todevelop drug refilling apparatuses allowing only an administratorauthenticated to justifiably access to put or refill the drugs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a drug refilling apparatus capable ofrefilling drug cartridges formed in various shapes and sizes dependingon shapes and sizes of drugs and a method of controlling the apparatus.

The present invention also provides a drug refilling apparatus capableof determining an access right of an administrator with respect toindividual drugs and allowing only an administrator whose access rightis authenticated to refill a drug cartridge with drugs and a method ofcontrolling the apparatus.

The present invention also provides a drug refilling apparatus capableof providing convenience of refilling a drug cartridge with drugsregardless of a position of a cover of the drug cartridge and a methodof controlling the apparatus.

The technical objects of the present invention are not limited to thosedescribed above, and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art from the following description that the present inventionincludes other technical objects not specifically mentioned herein.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided adrug refilling apparatus including a main body on which a drug cartridgeis mounted, a cartridge mounting unit installed on a top surface of themain body to allow the drug cartridge mounted thereon, an unfasteningunit unfastening a fastened state of a cover included in the drugcartridge, and a cartridge locking unit locking or unlocking the drugcartridge while the drug cartridge is being mounted on the cartridgemounting unit.

The cartridge mounting unit may be installed in the main body to bepivotable with a certain angle in such a way that the inside of the drugcartridge faces a direction inclined upwardly with a horizontaldirection as a reference when a cover installed on an open surface ofthe drug cartridge mounted on the cartridge mounting unit opens.

The cartridge mounting unit may include a position transfer partallowing whether being pivotable to be determined depending on whetherbeing coupled with the main body according to position transfer due toan external force.

The position transfer part may include a first protrusion and a secondprotrusion formed to be protruded to fix the cartridge mounting unit tothe main body. The main body may include a firstprotrusion-corresponding element and a second protrusion-correspondingelement corresponding to the first protrusion and the second protrusion,respectively. The cartridge mounting unit may maintain horizontalitywhen the first protrusion is hanged on the firstprotrusion-corresponding element, may pivot after the first protrusionis separated from the first protrusion-corresponding element by anexternal force, and may maintain a pivoted state while the secondprotrusion is being hanged on the second protrusion-correspondingelement.

An end of the second protrusion-corresponding element, on which thesecond protrusion is hanged, may be formed to be lower than an end ofthe first protrusion-corresponding element, on which the firstprotrusion is hanged.

The apparatus may further include a guide driving unit selectivelyallowing a plurality of guide elements provided on the cartridgemounting unit to ascend to correspond to a shape of the drug cartridge.

The cartridge mounting unit may include a mounting plate in contact witha rear surface of the drug cartridge and a seating plate, on which abottom surface of the drug cartridge is seated, and the seating platemay include an ascending slot to allow a plurality of guide elementsinserted into guide grooves formed on both sides of the drug cartridgeto ascend.

Ascending bars driven by the guide driving unit and insertion elementscoupled with bottom ends of the ascending bars and inserted intoascending-guiding grooves formed on the guide driving unit may beprovided below the guide elements.

The apparatus may further include a display unit installed on a frontpart of the main body and displaying a menu screen for operations ofrefilling drugs and authentication of an access right of anadministrator, an input unit receiving a command by allowing menusdisplayed on the display unit to be selected to perform a desiredoperation, a communication module performing communication with ahospital server, and a control unit controlling the guide driving unit,the unfastening unit, and the cartridge locking unit to refill the drugcartridge with drugs when the access right of the administrator isauthenticated by the hospital server via the communication module.

The guide driving unit may include a motor driven according to a controlsignal of the control unit, a length-variable element, whose lengthvaries, connected to a driving axis of the motor by a belt, a movingplate straightly reciprocating according to a change of the length ofthe length-variable element, a moving bar, whose rear end is coupledwith the moving plate, straightly reciprocating, and a guide blockcoupled with one side of a top of the moving plate and determining amounting position of the drug cartridge. The ascending-guiding grooves,into which the insertion elements are inserted to ascend, may be formedon a side surface of the moving bar. The length-variable element may beformed of as one pair of axes screw-coupled with each other in such away that a second axis is straightly moved by rotation of a first axisaccording to driving of the motor, thereby changing the length thereof.

The apparatus may further include a movement detection unit detecting amoved position of a bent bar coupled with a bottom of the moving plateto control motor-driving of the guide driving unit. The movementdetection unit may include one pair of photo couplers installed to beseparated from each other with an interval as a maximum moving distanceof the bent bar. The control unit may determine a rotation direction ofthe motor according to a detection signal of the movement detection unitand may control the motor to drive and to stop.

The drug cartridge may include a cartridge body formed in the shape of abox with an open top, in which a space for keeping drugs is provided, acover installed on the open top of the cartridge body, a cover fasteningunit fastening the cover, a memory chip storing identificationinformation given to the drug cartridge and information on drugs keptinside the cartridge body, and a locking element formed to be protrudedbackward to be coupled with the drug refilling apparatus. The drugrefilling apparatus may further include a memory chip recognizing theidentification information and the drug information stored in the memorychip.

The unfastening unit may include a motor driven according to a controlof the control unit and a key element coupled with a front end of adriving axis of the motor. The key element may be coupled with a latchelement of the cover fastening unit and may rotate according to drivingof the motor to allow the cover fastening unit to unfasten the coverincluded in the drug cartridge to be open.

The cartridge locking unit may include a motor driven according to acontrol signal of the control unit, a rotating element, whose crosssection is formed in an oval shape, rotating by rotating of the motor, apressing element with a step formed on a top end thereof, straightlyreciprocating while being pressed by the rotating of the rotatingelement, a hook element with a rear end axis-coupled with a bracket andengaged with the step formed on the top of the pressing element, with afront end engaged with the locking element of the drug cartridge, thehook element being rotated while the pressing element is moving, and anelastic element supported by one side of the pressing element andelastically deformed as the pressing element moves in one direction toprovide a restoring force to the pressing element.

The cartridge mounting unit may include a mounting plate in contact withthe rear surface of the drug cartridge and a seating plate on which thebottom surface of the drug cartridge is seated. The memory recognitionunit, the unfastening unit, and the cartridge locking unit may be formedin the mounting plate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of controlling a drug refilling apparatus. The method includesreceiving information of an administrator and authenticating an accessright thereof, when the access right of the administrator isauthenticated, allowing one selected pair of guide elementscorresponding to a width of a drug cartridge to ascend, among aplurality of guide elements provided on a cartridge mounting unit, torefill the drug cartridge managed by the corresponding administrator,with drugs, mounting the drug cartridge between the one pair of guideelements, and opening a cover of the drug cartridge and refilling thedrug cartridge with the drugs.

The method may further include, when the refilling the drug cartridgewith the drugs is finished, transmitting information of the drugsrefilling the drug cartridge and the information of the administrator toa hospital server, in which the hospital server manages a stock of drugsin real time by using the information of the drugs refilling the drugcartridge and the information of the administrator.

In the mounting the drug cartridge, identification information and druginformation stored in a memory chip of the drug cartridge may betransmitted to a hospital server and authenticity of the drug cartridgeis certified.

The opening the cover of the drug cartridge and refilling the drugcartridge with the drugs may include allowing the cartridge mountingunit to pivot with a certain angle to the main body before or after thecover is open in such a way that the cover is open and the inside of thedrug cartridge faces a direction inclined upwardly with a horizontaldirection as a reference, when the cover of the drug cartridge isinstalled on an open surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a drug refilling apparatus anda drug cartridge mounted thereon according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a block configuration view illustrating the drug cartridge ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view illustrating a configuration of a guidedriving unit of the drug cartridge of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating a state of couplingthe guide driving unit and guiding elements shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are operation-state views illustrating operations of theguide driving unit;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view illustrating a configuration of amovement detection unit of the drug cartridge of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a state of a rearcover separated from the drug cartridge of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are enlarged views illustrating a state of coupling afastening element of the drug cartridge of FIG. 8 with a lockingreleasing unit of the drug refilling apparatus and operations thereof;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are enlarged views illustrating a state of coupling alocking element and a cartridge locking unit and operations thereof;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a drugrefilling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views illustrating a drug refillingapparatus and a drug cartridge according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating a state of rotating acartridge mounting unit provided in a drug refilling apparatus accordingto another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 17 and 18 are configuration views illustrating states previous torotating the cartridge mounting unit provided in the drug refillingapparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 19 and 20 are configuration views illustrating states for rotatingthe cartridge mounting unit provided in the drug refilling apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 21 and 22 are configuration views illustrating states of rotatingthe cartridge mounting unit provided in the drug refilling apparatusaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the presentinvention is not limited to the embodiments and a person skilled in theart understanding the spirit of the present invention may easily inventother examples included within the technical scope of the presentinvention through adding other elements or changing and deletingelements within the same technical scope, which may be considered asbeing included in the technical scope of the present invention. Also,the same reference numerals designate the same elements throughout.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a drug refilling apparatus 20and a drug cartridge 10 mounted thereon according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block configuration viewillustrating the drug cartridge 10.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view illustrating a configuration of a guidedriving unit 50 of the drug cartridge 10, FIG. 4 is a sidecross-sectional view illustrating a state of coupling the guide drivingunit 50 and guide elements 43 shown in FIG. 3, FIGS. 5 and 6 areoperation-state views illustrating operations of the guide driving unit50, and FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view illustrating a configuration ofa movement detection unit 26 of the drug cartridge 10 of FIG. 3.

Also, FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a state of arear cover 113 separated from the drug cartridge 10, FIGS. 9 and 10 areenlarged views illustrating a state of coupling a fastening element 133of the drug cartridge 10 shown in FIG. 8 with an unfastening unit 60 ofthe drug refilling apparatus 20 and operations thereof, and FIGS. 11 and12 are enlarged views illustrating a state of coupling a locking element15 and a cartridge locking unit 70 and operations thereof.

The drug refilling apparatus 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes amain body 30, on which the drug cartridge 10 is mounted, a cartridgemounting unit 40 installed on a top surface of the main body 30 to allowthe drug cartridge 10 to be mounted on, a guide driving unit 50selectively ascending or descending a plurality of guide elements 43installed on the cartridge mounting unit 40 to correspond to a shape ofthe drug cartridge 10, the unfastening unit 60 unfastening a cover 12included in the drug cartridge 10, and the cartridge locking unit 70locking or unlocking the drug cartridge 10 mounted on the cartridgemounting unit 40.

Together with this, the drug refilling apparatus 20 includes a displayunit 21 installed on a front part of the main body 30 and displaying amenu screen for authenticating an access right of an administrator, aninput unit 22 receiving a command to perform a desired task by selectinga menu displayed on the display unit 21, a communication module 23performing communication with a hospital server 100, and a control unit24 controlling operations of the guide driving unit 50, the unfasteningunit 60, and the cartridge locking unit 70 to allow drugs to be puttedinto or refill (hereinafter, referred to as refill) the drug cartridge10 when the access right of the administrator is authenticated via thecommunication module 23.

The display unit 21 and an input unit 22 may be provided as a touchpanel that simultaneously performs inputting operations and displayingoperations to display all kinds of menus on a screen, to receive acommand according to a touch of the administrator, and display anoperation state according to the corresponding command.

The display unit 21 may be provided as a display such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD) and a light emitting diode (LED) panel, and theinput unit 22 may be provided as a separate input unit such as akeyboard.

The control unit 24 communicates with the hospital server 100 via thecommunication module 23, transmits an identification and a password ofthe administrator inputted via the input unit 22 to the hospital server100, and controls the guide driving unit 50 to drive to mount the drugcartridge 10 on the cartridge mounting unit 40 when the authenticationfor the access right of the administrator is finished.

Also, the control unit 24 drives the unfastening unit 60 to open a cover12 of the drug cartridge 10 and controls driving of the cartridgelocking unit 70 to detach the drug cartridge 10 when filling with drugsis finished.

Together with this, the drug refilling apparatus 20 further includes amemory recognition unit 25 electrically connected to a memory chip 14(refer to FIG. 8) included in the drug cartridge 10 and recognizingidentification information and drug information stored in the memorychip 14 and a movement detection unit 26 for controlling the driving ofthe guide driving unit 50.

Accordingly, the control unit 24 controls the communication module 23 totransfer the information recognized by the memory recognition unit 25 tothe hospital server 100 and controls driving of a motor included in theguide driving unit 50 according to a detection signal of the movementdetection unit 26.

The main body 30, as shown in FIG. 1, is approximately formed in theshape of a box, and the cartridge mounting unit 40, on which variousshapes of the drug cartridges 10 are mounted, is provided on one side ofa top of the main body 30.

On the front of the main body 30, a printed circuit board (PCB) wherethe display unit 21, the input unit 22, the communication module 23, andthe control unit 24 are installed is installed.

The front of the main body 30 is formed to be inclined downwardly insuch a way that the administrator may easily check the screen of thedisplay unit 21.

The cartridge mounting unit 40, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a mountingplate 41 in contact with a rear surface of the drug cartridge 10 and aseating plate 42 where a bottom surface of the drug cartridge 10 isseated.

In this case, on the mounting plate 41, the memory recognition unit 25,the unfastening unit 60, and the cartridge locking unit 70 areinstalled.

For this, on the mounting plate 41, the memory recognition unit 25 isinstalled and a penetration hole 411 where a key element 62 of theunfastening unit 60 penetrates and protruded and a coupling hole 412coupled with the locking element 15 are formed.

On the seating plate 42, ascending slots 421 through which the pluralityof guide elements 43 coupled with guide grooves 115 (refer to FIG. 7)formed on both sides of the drug cartridge 10 ascend are formed. On oneside of the seating plate 42, a moving slot (not shown) through which amoving plate 53 of the guide driving unit 50 moves is formed, which willbe described below.

That is, in the present embodiment, since the drug cartridge 10 ismanufactured in various sizes to keep various shapes and sizes of drugs,one pair of the guide elements 43 among the plurality of guide elements43 selectively ascends and stably mounts the drug cartridge 10, the onepair of the guide elements 43 being installed with an intervalcorresponding to a width of the corresponding drug cartridge 10.

For this, the guide elements 43, as shown in FIG. 1, are blocks formedto be extended in a length direction of the drug cartridge 10 and topends of the guide elements 43 are coupled with the guide grooves 115formed on the both sides of the drug cartridge 10.

Also, below the guide elements 43, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, ascendingbars 431 ascending-operated by the guide driving unit 50 and insertionelements 432 coupled with bottom ends of the ascending bars 431 andinserted into ascending-guiding grooves 541 formed on a moving bar 54 ofthe guide driving unit 50, which will be described below, are provided.

The guide driving unit 50, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, includes alength-variable element 52 connected to a driving axis of a motor 51 andhaving a variable length, the moving plate 53 straightly reciprocatingin a front and rear direction by rotation of the length-variable element52, and the moving bar 54 coupled with the moving plate 53 at a rear endthereof and straightly reciprocating.

The length-variable element 52 is provided as one pair of axesscrew-coupled with each other, in which a second axis is straightlymoved by rotation of a first axis driven by the motor 51, therebychanging the length thereof.

The moving plate 53 is vertically disposed and coupled with thelength-variable element 52.

That is, the moving plate 53 straightly reciprocates in a horizontaldirection according to a change of the length of the length-variableelement 52.

An upper part of the moving plate 53 is protruded upwardly via a movinghole formed on the seating plate 42, and a guide block 55 is installedon one side of the upper part of the moving plate 53.

The guide block 55 straightly reciprocates together with the movingplate 53 and determines a reference position while being in contact withone side surface of the drug cartridge 10 when the drug cartridge 10 ismounted.

On a side surface of the moving bar 54, as shown in FIG. 4, there isformed the ascending-guiding grooves 541, into which the insertionelements 432 are inserted, the ascending-guiding grooves 541 guiding theinsertion elements 432 to vertically ascend.

The ascending-guiding grooves 541 are formed in the shape of arcs convexupwardly or downwardly to allow the insertion elements 432 to beinserted and to ascend.

In FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, from left to right, the ascending-guiding grooves541 include a groove formed in the shape of an arc convex upwardly toallow one pair of the insertion elements 432 to be inserted, a grooveformed in the shape of an arc convex downwardly to allow one pair of theinsertion elements 432 to be inserted, a groove arched downwardly to theright to allow one insertion element 432 to be inserted, and a grooveformed in the shape of an arc convex upwardly to allow one pair of theinsertion elements 432 to be inserted.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

That is, various shapes of ascending-guiding grooves may be formed toallow one selected pair of guiding elements to ascend to correspond to awidth of a drug cartridge.

Accordingly, in the present embodiment, according to a shape of a drugcartridge to be refilled with drugs, it is possible to stably mount thedrug cartridge by allowing one pair of guiding elements to ascend, theguiding elements being installed with an interval corresponding to awidth of the cartridge among a plurality of guiding elements.

Together with this, inside the main body 30, as shown in FIG. 3, afastening block 31 formed to be long in a longitudinal direction and apair of guide bars 32 is installed below the fastening block 31 with acertain interval from both sides of the fastening block 31.

In this case, the fastening blocks 31 are formed by coupling one pair ofblocks formed to be symmetrical to each other and have a plurality ofguiding grooves 311 guiding the ascending bars 431 to ascend.

On the other hand, on a bottom surface of the main body 30, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 7, the movement detection unit 26 detecting a moved positionof a bent bar 531 coupled with a bottom of the moving plate 53 isinstalled.

In the present embodiment, the movement detection unit 26 includes onepair of photo couplers installed separated from each other as a maximummoving distance of the bent bar 531 and transmits a detection signal tothe control unit 24 when a bottom end of the bent 531 moves to any oneof the photo couplers.

Accordingly, the control unit 24 determines a rotation direction of themotor 51 and transmits a driving signal to drive the guide driving unit50 according to the detection signal of the movement detection unit 26and transmits a driving-stop signal to stop driving the motor 51 andcontrols the driving of the motor 51.

Before describing configurations of the unfastening unit 60 and thecartridge locking unit 70, a configuration of the drug cartridge 10 willbe described in detail with reference to FIG. 7.

The drug cartridge 10, as shown in FIG. 8, includes a cartridge body 11formed in the shape of a box with an open top with a space for keepingdrugs, the cover 12 installed on the open top, a cover fastening unit 13fastening and unfastening the cover 12, the memory chip 14 storingidentification information of the drug cartridge 10 and information ofdrugs stored inside the drug cartridge 10, and the locking element 15protruded backward to be coupled with the drug refilling apparatus 20.

Together with this, the drug cartridge 10, not shown in the drawings,further includes an outlet opening-closing unit opening and closing anoutlet 111 formed on a front bottom thereof and discharging drugs, anopening closing-blocking unit fastening and unfastening the outletopening-closing unit to be in a closed state to allow the outletopening-closing unit to be opened only when the drug cartridge 10 ismounted on a drug supplying apparatus (not shown), an inclined elementinstalled to be inclined toward the outlet to transfer drugs storedthereinside to the outlet when the drugs are formed in a cylindricalshape, and a guiding unit fixing drugs stored inside the cartridge body11 not to float.

On a rear surface of the cartridge body 11, as shown in FIG. 8, aninstallation space 112 where the cover fastening unit 13 and the memorychip 14 are installed is formed and the rear cover 113 shielding theinstallation space 112 is coupled therewith.

On the rear cover 113, a key coupling hole 114 with which the keyelement 62 included in the unfastening unit 60 is coupled is formed.

The guide grooves 115 are formed on both sides of a bottom of thecartridge body 11, the guide grooves 115 being extended in a lengthdirection of the cartridge body 11.

On a rear bottom of the cover 12, a hooking element 121 is formed to beengaged with a threshold 134 included in the cover fastening unit 13when closing the cover 12.

The cover 12 is open only while being coupled with the drug refillingapparatus 20.

The cover fastening unit 13, as shown in FIG. 8, includes a latchelement 131 installed on a position corresponding to the key couplinghole 114 of the rear cover 113 to be rotated while being coupled withthe key element 62 of the unfastening unit 60, a moving element 132moved in one direction by rotation of the latch element 131, and thefastening element 133 with a top of one side on which the threshold 134engaged with the hooking element 121 of the cover 12 is formed, thefastening element 133 being coupled with a top of the moving element132.

The latch element 131 is formed in an approximate oval shape and rotatesaccording to rotation of the key element 62.

On the moving element 132 and the fastening element 133, guide holes 135with which guide protrusions 116 formed on the rear surface of thecartridge body 11 to be extended in a horizontal direction are coupledare formed in the shape of a slot hole, respectively.

Between one side surfaces of the moving element 132 and the fasteningelement 133 and a right inner surface of the installation space 112 asshown in FIG. 8, springs 136 providing restoring forces are installed,respectively.

Accordingly, the moving element 132 and the fastening element 133horizontally reciprocate inside the installation space 112.

The memory chip 14 may be a read-only memory to prevent deleting andchanging information originally stored.

The unfastening unit 60, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, includes a motor 61driven according to a control signal of the control unit 24 and the keyelement 62 coupled with a front end of a driving axis of the motor 61.

The key element 62 is coupled with the latch element 131 of the coverfastening unit 13 by penetrating through the key coupling hole 114 ofthe rear cover 113 and rotates according to driving of the motor 61 torotate the latch element 131.

That is, when the motor 61 rotates according to the control of thecontrol unit 24 and the key element 62 rotates in a direction of anarrow shown in FIG. 9, the latch element 131, as shown in FIG. 10,rotates in one direction to move the moving element 132 and thefastening element 133 to the right.

Accordingly, coupling between the hooking element 121 of the cover 12and the threshold 134 of the fastening element 133 is released, therebyopening the cover 12.

The cartridge locking unit 70, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, includes amotor 71 driven according to a control signal of the control unit 24, arotating element 72 rotated by rotation of the motor 71, a pressingelement 73 having a step 731 formed on a top thereof and straightlyreciprocating while being pressed by the rotating of the rotatingelement 72, and a hook element 74 having a rear end axis-coupled with abracket and engaged with the step 731 formed on the top of the pressingelement 73 and a front end engaged with the locking element 15 androtating while the pressing element 73 is moving.

Also, the cartridge locking unit 70 further includes an elastic element75 supported by one side, for example, in FIG. 10, a left side of thepressing element 73, elastically deformed as the pressing element 73moves left, and provides a restoring force to the pressing element 73.

That is, when the drug cartridge 10 is mounted on the drug refillingapparatus 20, as shown in FIG. 10, the hook element 74 and the lockingelement 15 are engaged with each other. Accordingly, the drug cartridge10 maintains a state of being mounted on the drug refilling apparatus20.

On the contrary, when refilling with drugs is finished, the control unit24 generates a control signal to allow the motor 71 of the cartridgelocking unit 70 to be driven.

When the motor 71 is driven according to the control signal of thecontrol unit 24, the rotating element 72 rotates in a direction of anarrow shown in FIG. 12 and presses the pressing element 73 toward theone side.

Then, as the pressing element 73 moves to the left along the directionof the arrow shown in FIG. 12, the hook element 74 engaged with the step731 formed on the top of the pressing element 73 rotates around an axisof a bottom end in such a way that the locking element 15 is separatedfrom the hook element 74.

According thereto, the drug cartridge 10 becomes detachable from thedrug refilling apparatus 20.

Referring to FIG. 13, a method of controlling the drug refillingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed in detail.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the method of controlling the drugrefilling apparatus.

The display unit 21 of the drug refilling apparatus 20 displays a screenguiding authentication of an access right of an administrator accordingto control of the control unit 24 (S10).

When administrator information such as an identifier and a password ofthe administrator is inputted via the input unit 22, the communicationmodule 23 transmits the inputted administrator information to thehospital server 100 (S11) and receives a result of the authenticationfrom the hospital server 100 (S12)

According thereto, the control unit 24 checks whether the authenticationof the access right is completed from the authentication result receivedin S12 (S13).

When the administrator has no appropriate access right, the control unit24 controls the display unit 21 to inform the administrator that theauthentication has failed (S14) and to display a screen for guiding theadministrator to check whether having the access right.

On the contrary, when the access right of the administrator isauthenticated, the control unit 24 controls the guide driving unit 50 todrive one pair of the guide elements 43 among the plurality of the guideelements 43 to ascend, according to a shape of the drug cartridge 10keeping corresponding drugs administrated by the administrator (S15).

That is, the control unit 24 transmits a driving signal to the motor 51of the guide driving unit 50 to allow the one pair of the guide elements43 to ascend, the guide elements 43 being installed with an intervalcorresponding to a width of the drug cartridge 10, and the motor 51 isdriven in one direction according to the driving signal.

Then, a length of the length-variable element 52 is reduced by drivingof the motor 51, the moving plate 53 and the moving bar 54 whose one endis coupled with the moving plate 53 move to the right as shown in FIGS.5 and 6.

Due thereto, all the guide elements 43 whose insertion elements 432 areinserted into the ascending-guiding grooves 541 of the moving bar 54ascend along the ascending-guiding grooves 541, and finally, only onepair of the guide elements 43 installed with the interval correspondingto the width of the drug cartridge 10 ascend.

In this case, the movement detection unit 26 detects a moved position ofthe bent bar 531 installed on the moving plate 53, and the control unit24 transmits a driving-stop signal to the motor 51 to stop the drivingof the motor 51 according to a detection signal of the movementdetection unit 26.

According thereto, the driving of the motor 51 is stopped and then themovement of the moving plate 53 is stopped.

Together with this, the guide block 55 coupled with the top of themoving plate 53 moves in a horizontal direction to be in contact withone side of the drug cartridge 10 and determines a reference position.

Subsequently, the drug cartridge 10 is located to allow the one pair ofthe guide elements 43 to be inserted into the guide grooves 115, ismoved to the inside of the cartridge mounting unit 40, and is mounted onthe drug refilling apparatus 20 (S16).

In this case, the locking element 15 of the drug cartridge 10 is engagedwith the hook element 74 of the cartridge locking unit 70, and the keyelement 62 of the unfastening unit 60 is coupled with the latch element131 included in the cover fastening unit 13 of the drug cartridge 10.

Together with this, the memory recognition unit 25 is electricallyconnected to the memory chip 14 of the drug cartridge 10 and recognizesidentification information and drug information stored in the memorychip 14.

Then, the control unit 24 controls the communication module 23 totransmit the recognized information to the hospital server 100 andreceive a result of certifying authenticity of the corresponding drugcartridge 10 and information on drugs to refill the corresponding drugcartridge 10 from the hospital server 100 (S17).

When the motor 61 of the unfastening unit 60 is driven according to thecontrol of the control unit 24 and the key element 62 rotates in adirection of an arrow shown in FIG. 10, the latch element 131 rotates inone direction as shown in FIG. 9 in such a way that the moving element132 and the fastening element 133 are moved to the right.

According thereto, coupling between the hooking element 121 of the cover12 and the threshold 134 of the fastening element 133 is released andthen the cover 12 is open to refill the inside of the drug cartridge 10with drugs (S18).

Subsequently, when drug-refilling is finished and the cover 12 is closed(S19), the motor 71 of the cartridge locking unit 70 is driven accordingto a control signal of the control unit 24 and the rotating element 72formed in an oval shape rotates in a direction of an arrow shown in FIG.11 and presses the pressing element 73 in one direction.

Then, as the pressing element 73 is moved to the right along a directionof an arrow shown in FIG. 12, the hook element 74 engaged with the step731 formed on the top of the pressing element 73 rotates around the axisof the bottom end in such a way that a locking state is released,thereby separating the locking element 15 from the hook element 15(S20).

According thereto, the drug cartridge 10 is detached from the drugrefilling apparatus 20 (S21).

In this case, the drug cartridge 10 is detached while being guided byone pair of the guide elements 43 coupled with the guide grooves 115formed on both sides.

The control unit 24 controls the communication module 23 to transmitinformation on the drugs refilling the drug cartridge 10 and theadministrator refilling the drug cartridge 10 with the drugs to thehospital server 100 (S22).

According thereto, the hospital server 100 manages a stock of drugs inreal time by using the received information (S23).

Through the process as described above, in the present embodiment, aftera access right of an administrator may be authenticated, one pair ofguide elements may ascend to correspond to a width of a drug cartridgeto be refilled with drugs, and a cover of the drug cartridge may be opento allow drugs to be inserted into the drug cartridge or to refill thesame.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views illustrating a drug refillingapparatus 200 and a drug cartridge 110 according to another embodimentof the present invention, and FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustratinga state of rotating a cartridge mounting unit 400 provided in a drugrefilling apparatus according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIGS. 14 and 15, since a configuration and effects of thedrug refilling apparatus 200 are identical to those of the drugrefilling apparatus 20 except the cartridge mounting unit 400 installedin a main body 300 to be pivotable with a certain angle and one surfaceon which a cover 120 of the drug cartridge 110 is installed, a detaileddescription of other parts will be omitted.

The cartridge mounting unit 400 may be installed in the main body 300 tobe pivotable with the certain angle to allow the inside of the drugcartridge 110 to face a direction inclined upwardly with a horizontaldirection as a reference when the cover 120 installed on open onesurface of the drug cartridge 110 is open.

This is for conveniently refilling drugs regardless of positions ofcovers of various drug cartridges. In the case of the drug cartridge 10described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13, since the cover 12 isinstalled on an open top surface of the cartridge body 11, although thecartridge mounting unit 40 is fixed to the main body 30, there is noinconvenience for refilling drugs.

However, since the kind of drug cartridges may be various and a surfaceon which a cover is installed may also be various, drug refillingapparatuses should provide convenience of users refilling drugs,regardless of positions where covers are installed.

As an example, as shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, in the case of the cover 120of the drug cartridge 110 installed on an open surface of a cartridgebody 130, when a cartridge mounting unit is fixed to a main body and thecover 120 is open, the inside of the drug cartridge 110 faces ahorizontal direction, thereby making refilling drugs inconvenient.

Accordingly, the drug refilling apparatus 200 effectively overcomes theinconvenience by installing the cartridge mounting unit 400 in the mainbody 300 to be pivotable.

In detail, the cartridge mounting unit 400 may include a mounting plate410 in contact with a rear surface of the drug cartridge 110 and aseating plate 420 on which a bottom surface of the drug cartridge 110 isseated. As shown in FIG. 15, when the drug cartridge 110 is mounted onthe cartridge mounting unit 400, the cartridge mounting unit 400 maypivot with a certain angle and may be fixed as a state shown in FIG. 16.

After that, since the drug cartridge 110 may be refilled with drugs viaan opening and the inside of the drug cartridge 110 may face thedirection inclined upwardly with the horizontal direction as thereference, it is possible to provide convenience of users.

A detailed operation theory will be described below. FIGS. 17 and 18 areconfiguration views illustrating states previous to rotating thecartridge mounting unit 400, FIGS. 19 and 20 are configuration viewsillustrating states for rotating the cartridge mounting unit 400, andFIGS. 21 and 22 are configuration views illustrating states of rotatingthe cartridge mounting unit 400.

In FIGS. 17 to 22, for convenience of description, the drug cartridge110 with the cover 120 installed on an open surface of the cartridgebody 130 is omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 17 and 18, when the drug cartridge 110 is mounted onthe cartridge mounting unit 400, the cartridge mounting unit 400 may befixed to the main body 300 by a position transfer part 430 of thecartridge mounting unit 400.

In detail, the position transfer part 430 is a part of the cartridgemounting unit 400, in which it may be determined according totransferring a position thereof by an external force whether theposition transfer part 430 is coupled with the main body 300, therebydetermining whether the cartridge mounting unit 400 is pivotable.

The position transfer part 430 may include a first protrusion 432 and asecond protrusion 438 formed to be protruded to fix the cartridgemounting unit 400 and the main body 300. The first protrusion 432 may behanged up by a first protrusion-corresponding element 332 protruded froma bottom surface of the main body 300 in such a way that the cartridgemounting unit 400 maintains horizontality.

In other words, the position transfer part 430 may include an externalforce-applying element 434 disposed to be protruded outward from themain body to apply an external force, an extended bar 436 extendedinside the main body 300, and the first and second protrusions 432 and438 formed in the shape of hooks protruded from a bottom surface of theextended bar 436. A position of the extended bar 436 may be transferredalong an inner space of an extended bar guiding element 440 coupled witha bottom surface of the seating plate 420 of the cartridge mounting unit400.

The extended bar guiding element 440 may be bent to form a certain innerspace and may be coupled with the bottom surface of the seating plate420. In the inner space, the extended bar 426 may be disposed to bemovable.

In this case, the horizontality of the cartridge mounting unit 400 maybe maintained, as described above, by hanging the first protrusion 432on the first protrusion-corresponding element 332 coupled with thebottom surface of the main body 300 to be protruded.

Referring to FIGS. 19 and 20, when the cover 120 of the drug cartridge110 mounted on the cartridge mounting unit 400 is installed on the opensurface, an external force F may be applied to the externalforce-applying element 434 of the position transfer part 430 to allowthe cartridge mounting unit 400 to pivot.

When the external force F is applied to the external force-applyingelement 434, the extended bar 436, in connection with the externalforce-applying element 434, may be horizontally transferred to theinside of the main body 300 along the inner space of the extended barguiding element 440.

When the extended bar 436 is horizontally transferred, the firstprotrusion 432 hanged on an end of the first protrusion-correspondingelement 332 is separated therefrom in such a way that the cartridgemounting unit 400 may be pivotable.

Referring to FIGS. 21 and 22, when a user holds a handle H (refer toFIG. 14) and lift the same upwardly, the cartridge mounting unit 400pivots around a pivot provided by at least one hinge 500.

In this case, the hinge 500 may be coupled with a bottom surface of thecartridge mounting unit 400 and the main body 300 and may be a structureconnecting the cartridge mounting unit 400 to the main body 300.

On the other hand, pivoting of the cartridge mounting unit 400 may beperformed previously to or after opening the cover 120 of the drugcartridge 110.

That is, when the cartridge mounting unit 400 pivots before the cover120 is open, the cover 120 may be open to allow refilling drugs afterthe cartridge mounting unit 400 pivots. When the cartridge mounting unit400 pivots after the cover 120 is open, the drug cartridge 110 may berefilled with drugs right after the cartridge mounting unit 400 pivots.

A state in which the cartridge mounting unit 400 pivots with a certainangle may be maintained by hanging the second protrusion 438 of theposition transfer part 430 on the second protrusion-correspondingelement 338 coupled with the bottom surface of the main body 300 to beprotruded.

An end of the second protrusion-corresponding element 338 may be bent toallow the second protrusion 438 formed in a hooked shape to be hangedthereon, which may be performed by allowing the position transfer part430 transferred by the external force to return to an original position.

The position transfer part 430 may automatically return to the originalposition when removing the external force applied by an elastic element(not shown) and may return to the original position by being manuallyoperated without the elastic element.

On the other hand, the end of the second protrusion-correspondingelement 338 on which the second protrusion is hanged may be formed to belower than the end of the first protrusion-corresponding element 332 onwhich the first protrusion is hanged in such a way that the cartridgemounting unit 400 may pivot in the shape of a seesaw.

As described above, the drug refilling apparatus 200, regardless ofpositions of covers 120 of various drug cartridges 110, allows refillingthe drug cartridges 110 with drugs to be convenient by pivoting of thecartridge mounting unit 400.

However, the position transfer part 430 to allow the cartridge mountingunit 400 to pivot, the first protrusion 432, the second protrusion 438,the first protrusion-corresponding element 332, and the secondprotrusion-corresponding element 338 to fix the cartridge mounting unit400 to the main body 300 are not limited thereto and the cartridgemounting unit 400 may automatically pivot or be fixed by control of amotor.

As described above, it is possible to refill drug cartridges, formed invarious shapes and sizes, with drugs by using a drug refilling apparatusmanufactured separately from a drug supplying apparatus.

Particularly, only one pair of guide elements provided with an intervalcorresponding to a width of a drug cartridge to be refilled with drugsselectively ascend among a plurality of guide elements by using onemotor included in a guide driving unit.

Accordingly, it is possible to refill drug cartridges having variousshapes and sizes with drugs by using one drug refilling apparatusregardless of the shapes and sizes of the drug cartridges and it is alsopossible to reduce manufacturing costs of the drug refilling apparatus.

Also, it is possible to conveniently refill a drug cartridge with drugsregardless of a position of a cover of the drug cartridge.

Also, an access right of an administrator is given to each of individualdrugs and only the administrator whose access right is authenticated isallowed to refill a drug cartridge with drugs to prevent the misuse ofdrugs generated by drugs wrongly administrated and taken.

Also, it is possible to improve efficiency and accuracy of managing thestock of drugs by transmitting information of drugs refilling a drugcartridge and information of an administrator refilling the drugcartridge with the drugs to a hospital server in real time.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drug refilling apparatus comprising: a mainbody on which a drug cartridge is mounted; a cartridge mounting unitinstalled on a top surface of the main body to allow the drug cartridgemounted thereon; an unfastening unit unfastening a fastened state of acover included in the drug cartridge; and a cartridge locking unitlocking or unlocking the drug cartridge while the drug cartridge isbeing mounted on the cartridge mounting unit.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the cartridge mounting unit is installed in the main body tobe pivotable with a certain angle in such a way that the inside of thedrug cartridge faces a direction inclined upwardly with a horizontaldirection as a reference when a cover installed on an open surface ofthe drug cartridge mounted on the cartridge mounting unit opens.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2, wherein the cartridge mounting unit comprises aposition transfer part allowing whether being pivotable to be determineddepending on whether being coupled with the main body according toposition transfer due to an external force.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3,wherein the position transfer part comprises a first protrusion and asecond protrusion formed to be protruded to fix the cartridge mountingunit to the main body, wherein the main body comprises a firstprotrusion-corresponding element and a second protrusion-correspondingelement corresponding to the first protrusion and the second protrusion,respectively, and wherein the cartridge mounting unit maintainshorizontality when the first protrusion is hanged on the firstprotrusion-corresponding element, pivots after the first protrusion isseparated from the first protrusion-corresponding element by an externalforce, and maintains a pivoted state while the second protrusion isbeing hanged on the second protrusion-corresponding element.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, wherein an end of the secondprotrusion-corresponding element, on which the second protrusion ishanged, is formed to be lower than an end of the firstprotrusion-corresponding element, on which the first protrusion ishanged.
 6. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising at least onehinge coupled with a bottom surface of the cartridge mounting unit andthe main body to provide a pivot for the cartridge mounting unit.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a guide driving unitselectively allowing a plurality of guide elements provided on thecartridge mounting unit to ascend or descend to correspond to a shape ofthe drug cartridge.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the cartridgemounting unit comprises a mounting plate in contact with a rear surfaceof the drug cartridge and a seating plate, on which a bottom surface ofthe drug cartridge is seated, and wherein the seating plate comprises anascending slot to allow a plurality of guide elements inserted intoguide grooves formed on both sides of the drug cartridge to ascend. 9.The apparatus of claim 5, wherein ascending bars driven by the guidedriving unit and insertion elements coupled with bottom ends of theascending bars and inserted into ascending-guiding grooves formed on theguide driving unit are provided below the guide elements.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 5, further comprising: a display unit installed on afront part of the main body and displaying a menu screen for operationsof refilling drugs and authentication of an access right of anadministrator; an input unit receiving a command by allowing menusdisplayed on the display unit to be selected to perform a desiredoperation; a communication module performing communication with ahospital server; and a control unit controlling the guide driving unit,the unfastening unit, and the cartridge locking unit to refill the drugcartridge with drugs when the access right of the administrator isauthenticated by the hospital server via the communication module. 11.The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the guide driving unit comprises: amotor driven according to a control signal of the control unit; alength-variable element, whose length varies, connected to a drivingaxis of the motor by a belt; a moving plate straightly reciprocatingaccording to a change of the length of the length-variable element; amoving bar, whose rear end is coupled with the moving plate, straightlyreciprocating; and a guide block coupled with one side of a top of themoving plate and determining a mounting position of the drug cartridge,wherein the ascending-guiding grooves, into which the insertion elementsare inserted to ascend, are formed on a side surface of the moving bar,and wherein the length-variable element is formed of as one pair of axesscrew-coupled with each other in such a way that a second axis isstraightly moved by rotation of a first axis according to driving of themotor, thereby changing the length thereof.
 12. The apparatus of claim11, further comprising a movement detection unit detecting a movedposition of a bent bar coupled with a bottom of the moving plate tocontrol motor-driving of the guide driving unit, wherein the movementdetection unit comprises one pair of photo couplers installed to beseparated from each other with an interval as a maximum moving distanceof the bent bar, and wherein the control unit determines a rotationdirection of the motor according to a detection signal of the movementdetection unit and controls the motor to drive and to stop.
 13. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the drug cartridge comprises: a cartridgebody formed in the shape of a box with an open top, in which a space forkeeping drugs is provided; a cover installed on the open top of thecartridge body; a cover fastening unit fastening the cover; a memorychip storing identification information given to the drug cartridge andinformation on drugs kept inside the cartridge body; and a lockingelement formed to be protruded backward to be coupled with the drugrefilling apparatus, the drug refilling apparatus further comprising amemory chip recognizing the identification information and the druginformation stored in the memory chip.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the unfastening unit comprises: a motor driven according to acontrol of the control unit; and a key element coupled with a front endof a driving axis of the motor, and wherein the key element is coupledwith a latch element of the cover fastening unit and rotates accordingto driving of the motor to allow the cover fastening unit to unfastenthe cover included in the drug cartridge to be open.
 15. The apparatusof claim 13, wherein the cartridge locking unit comprises: a motordriven according to a control signal of the control unit; a rotatingelement, whose cross section is formed in an oval shape, rotating byrotating of the motor; a pressing element with a step formed on a topend thereof, straightly reciprocating while being pressed by therotating of the rotating element; a hook element with a rear endaxis-coupled with a bracket and engaged with the step formed on the topof the pressing element, with a front end engaged with the lockingelement of the drug cartridge, the hook element being rotated while thepressing element is moving; and an elastic element supported by one sideof the pressing element and elastically deformed as the pressing elementmoves in one direction to provide a restoring force to the pressingelement.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the cartridge mountingunit comprises: a mounting plate in contact with the rear surface of thedrug cartridge; and a seating plate on which the bottom surface of thedrug cartridge is seated, and wherein the memory recognition unit, theunfastening unit, and the cartridge locking unit are formed in themounting plate.
 17. A method of controlling a drug refilling apparatus,the method comprising: receiving information of an administrator andauthenticating an access right thereof; when the access right of theadministrator is authenticated, allowing one selected pair of guideelements corresponding to a width of a drug cartridge to ascend, among aplurality of guide elements provided on a cartridge mounting unit, torefill the drug cartridge managed by the corresponding administrator,with drugs; mounting the drug cartridge between the one pair of guideelements; and opening a cover of the drug cartridge and refilling thedrug cartridge with the drugs.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising, when the refilling the drug cartridge with the drugs isfinished, transmitting information of the drugs refilling the drugcartridge and the information of the administrator to a hospital server,wherein the hospital server manages a stock of drugs in real time byusing the information of the drugs refilling the drug cartridge and theinformation of the administrator.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein,in the mounting the drug cartridge, identification information and druginformation stored in a memory chip of the drug cartridge aretransmitted to a hospital server and authenticity of the drug cartridgeis certified.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the opening the coverof the drug cartridge and refilling the drug cartridge with the drugscomprises, allowing the cartridge mounting unit to pivot with a certainangle to the main body before or after the cover is open in such a waythat the cover is open and the inside of the drug cartridge faces adirection inclined upwardly with a horizontal direction as a reference,when the cover of the drug cartridge is installed on an open surface.